DeathscytheX

http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0705/spill-continues-pentagon-buying-bp/

Defense Department says it has $980 million in contracts with BP for current fiscal year; Oil giant was largest provider of fuel to Pentagon in the world in 2009

The organization charged with helping BP plug and clean up a leaking oil drill hole in the Gulf is also providing aid in another way: buying hundreds of millions of dollars of its oil.

Despite heated rhetoric from President Barack Obama -- and the forced creation of a $20 billion fund to pay claims related to the disaster -- the US military is still buying much of its oil from BP. The Pentagon is the largest user of oil in the world, more than any other single nation or corporation.

Veteran intelligence reporter R. Jeffrey Smith caught the story in Monday's Washington Post.

BP... remains a heavy supplier of military fuel under contracts worth at least $980 million in the current fiscal year, according to the Defense Logistics Agency. In fiscal 2009, BP was the Pentagon's largest single supplier of fuel, providing 11.7 percent of the total purchased, and in 2010, its contracts amount to roughly the same percentage, according to DLA spokeswoman Mimi Schirmacher.

"BP is an active participant in multiple ongoing Defense Logistics Agency acquisition programs," Schirmacher said, without providing details. BP spokesman Robert Wine said he was aware of at least one "big contract" signed by the U.S. military after the oil rig explosion on April 20, involving the supply of multiple fuels for its operations in Europe.

So far, members of Congress have discussed barring BP from any new oil and gas drilling leases, not from fuel sales to the government. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), who co-chairs the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, said last week that he would introduce legislation to shut BP out of such leases for the next seven years, as punishment for what he described as "serial" legal violations. But Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said in a statement that "the U.S. government needs to look at all possible options when it comes to showing BP, or any corporate bad actor, that a continued culture of cost cutting and increased risk taking will absolutely not be tolerated."

Meanwhile, BP's costs arising from the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have rocketed to $3.12 billion, the company revealed on Monday.

"The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately $3.12 billion, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs," it said in a statement.

The group added: "It is too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident."

The latest estimate of costs, equivalent to 2.06 billion pounds, is far higher than the 2.65 billion dollars that was given one week ago.

The company's share price has collapsed by more than 50 percent since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig which the company operated sank on April 22, two days after a blast killed 11 workers.

Most things, sure. But there are also a number that I don't want to ever deal with again, like getting the Holographic Sight for the FAL. 60 kills with a misaligned RDS on a gun that isn't especially easy to use to begin with...not fun.

And Cold-Blooded is definitely more of a "my team sucks" perk than anything, Rob, that's true. It's also helpful when you're the only person shooting down killstreaks, as your teammates run into Harrier fire over and over again without even considering dropping them. Lord.

Edit: Haha, cute. I didn't know you could assign a smiley to an entire post...ignore that at the top, I was just trying to insert the little sweat droppy guy at the end.

What aggravates me beyond anything is when I have it on and I'm trying to shoot shit down, and some fucker runs up next to me, causing me to shot by whatever is in the sky.... or even worse when people like to group around me when a predator missile is coming down.

It seems unless i have 3 or 4 people from one of my teams with me, everyone is a stupid jackass. No one shoots kill streaks down, no one uses common sense, and I cant stand people that camp by laying down in a door way so I cant walk out of it. I actually have something for that. I switch to my sniper class and toss my smoke nade at them so they cant see anything... or i go around and dance in front of them swiping my knife in their face. X'D

As far as prestige goes, it is annoying on some counts, but the extra custom classes every 2 prestige levels are worth it IMO. I can prestige pretty fast without even touching the FAL, FAMAS, all Sniper Rifles, and most of the LMGS. Most of the guns I hate, i'll save for 10th prestige.

I generally start with the UMP45, MP5k, and M4, max them out (all attachments, dont bother with camo and kills). Then I max the Scar-H out, then I'll use the RPD some and eventually max it while building up the P90, TAR-21, and AUG-BAR. Between racking up the 10,000xp bonuses with these, and maxing the Spas-12, AA-12, PP2000, and G18, I'll get my M16 and max it. Then comes the F2000 and the Mini-Uzi, and by this time I have my AK-47 and reach the end of level 70!

Between maxing out guns, I also complete UAV, Counter UAV, Air Drop, Predator, Attack Chopper, Harrier, Pave Low, and Chopper Gunner challenge and the secondary kill streak challenges that go along with them (radar inbound and stuff). The Air Drop generally gets me the EMP or AC130 challenge as a bonus.

lol Not really an issue. Just know where to be and where will get you blown to smithereens.

It is when your whole team sucks on wastleland, salavage, sub base, rundown, or overgrown, and you're stuck spawning outside when there is a pavelow, AC130, or Chopper Gunner in the sky.... in that case there is no where to be but getting spawn raped.

When i go 26-10 and the next best person on my team is 5-17... it is an issue. lol

Getting raped by kill streaks until you get cold blooded back at level 22 is no fun. lol

OMG he was so camping out on quarry. Everyone on my team was being an idiot and running through the same door trying to shoot him Which also caused our spawn to stay there so I couldn't go around and kill him. Yeah bdogg! grr I got my revenge eventually, I cant wait to get Ninja back. Why haven't you prestiged yet missy?! I never would on COD4 because it was pointless, but I'm a nerd for the new title/emblems and extra custom classes this time around.

I've owned a Nissan Maxima, and now own a Mazda 3. My mom owned a GM car... her car has been in the shop more than both my cars combined 3x over.

Why are you always on the other team!? Booo!!

Why do you not have the map packs?!?!?! wtf!!!

And if that StarShip guy is your friend, he's the biggest camper ever! I didn't have danger close to defend myself. Heart beat sensor camping is the lowest of all lows!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7607947/Barack-Obama-plays-golf-eight-more-times-than-George-W-Bush.html

President Barack Obama has played golf 32 times since he took office, eight more than his predecessor George W. Bush - who was mocked by the Left for his fondness for the game - did in his entire presidency.

Mr Obama's latest outing on the links came on Sunday, when an opportunity opened up on his schedule after flying bans over most of northern and central Europe forced him to cancel his trip to Krakow to attend the funeral of Lech Kaczynski, the Polish president.

Mr Bush was shown in the Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11 condemning "terrorist killers" in the Middle East when asked a question on the golf course in 2002. Barely pausing for breath, he added: "Thank you. Now watch this drive."

Mr Bush later gave up golf, saying in a 2008 interview: "I don't want to some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf... And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

The golfing figures were compiled by Mark Knoller of CBS Radio, the unofficial White House statistician.

Mr Obama's Sunday golf game prompted anger in Poland, where the Warsaw Business Post carried a headline reading: "Obama goes golfing instead of attending Kaczynskis' funeral".

Crime is horrendous in Chicago. People still get guns illegally. Let the citizens defend themselves.

They better have a backup system, and multiple locations. An attack on a single location could shut down all of Europe!

I personally like the new skittles. Its kinda like pop rocks coated wild berry skittles. X'D

Coconut M&Ms are pretty good too, but hard to find around here.

Monster Slim Jims are a must however!

There are so many new applications for this. Finally they can make knee replacements that last forever, instead of 5-8 years.

http://kotaku.com/5572324/bionic-cat-walks-on-metal-feet

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After losing his back feet to a combine harvester, Oscar the cat thought he would never walk again, but we can rebuild him. We have the technology.

Noel Fitzpatrick, a veterinary surgeon based in Surrey, England, is the subject of a BBC documentary titled The Bionic Vet, and for good reason. Working in tandem with a team from University College London led by Professor Gordon Blunn, Fitzpatrick may have revolutionized the field of prosthetics by implanting metal pegs into the leg bones of a black cat.

What's so special about implanting metal pegs? Nothing at all, if you're expecting infection and eventual rejection. Bone and skin generally don't mesh well with metal.

But these metal pegs, called intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics, or Itaps, actually have the bone and skin growing into them. Says Fitzpatrick:

"We have managed to get the bone and skin to grow into the implant and we have developed an 'exoprosthesis' that allows this implant to work as a see-saw on the bottom of an animal's limbs to give him effectively normal gait."

The pegs were bioengineered to mimic the way deer antler bones grow through skin.

While the technology has already been tested on humans, with a female victim of the 2005 London bombings receiving a prosthetic arm, the fact that Oscar the cat has two successful implants is astounding.

But not as astounding as the fact that he can actually walk on them moments after having his new feet connected.

For Now The Bionic Cat Just Walks, But Could Laser Feet Be That Far Off?

It's moments like this that make me proud to be writing science posts, even on my day off.

And for those of you who don't care for adorable cat stories, ponder this question: What else could we attach to those pegs? Guns? Lasers? Portal springs? It's like having a living cat action figure with interchangeable parts. The possibilities are diabolically endless!

Just wait for the first hurricane that sucks all that up.

He does the beat boxing through his mouth and most the sounds through his nose it seems like.

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You'd think they wouldn't mind as long as it wasn't full episodes. I can understand the people that put a whole episode in 10 minute clips, but just skits? I think that would help them rather than hurt their greedy asses.

You send a friend a skit from family guy that they might have missed (which you can no longer find on youtube because of those fucks)... they are gonna want to catch the whole ep next time its on TV... Giving them ratings. People are so corrupted by trying to make a dime for everything, they don't see the big picture.

yes, because everyone should pay out money every time they want to watch their favorite 20 second skit of a show... Fuck you Viacom.

http://kotaku.com/5570864/science-finds-courage-in-the-human-brain

General George Patton said that "Courage is fear holding on a minute longer." Now scientists may have found a way to stimulate courage, pinpointing the portion of the brain that helps humans conquer their fears.

Snakes - why is it always snakes?

A team of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, led by Dr. Yadin Dudai took a group of volunteers and separated them into two groups - those afraid of snakes, and those not afraid of snakes.

The only reason science ever needs a group of people who are afraid of something is when they plan on torturing them mercilessly with the object they fear.

In this instance, each volunteer was presented with an adorable toy bear and a harmless but terrifying American corn snake. While scanning their brains using an MRI, the volunteers were given the choice to move either the snake or the bear closer or farther away.

If this were me, I'd be cuddling the toy bear in seconds flat.

But many of the volunteers for this test were made of sterner stuff, and when one overcame their fear and urged the snake forward, their brains reacted.

The researchers noted that when a test subject displayed courage, the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) of their brain lit up like a Christmas tree. Subjects who succumbed to their fear and pushed the snake away didn't show the same activity.

So the scientists have concluded that courage resides in the sgACC. It seems like a logical conclusion, but what can they do with that knowledge? Says Dr. Dudai:

'Specifically, our findings delineate the importance of maintaining high sgACC activity in successful efforts to overcome ongoing fear and point to the possibility of manipulating sgACC activity in therapeutic intervention in disorders involving a failure to overcome fear.'

Yes, science may soon be able to instill courage in humans without the use of rousing speeches or self-sacrificing acts of bravery. Perhaps one day I'll finally be able to make it through a Fatal Frame game without screaming like a little girl.

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http://gizmodo.com/5569537/condoms-with-teeth-fight-rape-in-south-africa

Over 30,000 Rape-Axe condoms are being handed out free at South Africa's World Cup. While they won't stop rape, the condoms (worn by women) have jagged-teeth inside to tear penises up, and can only be removed by doctors.

Sounds grim, but then I imagine rape isn't any fun for the woman either. The inventor, Dr Sonnet Ehlers, was inspired to create the painful condom after she met a woman who'd been raped. The woman apparently told Ehlers "if only I had teeth down there," which encouraged her to look at ways to make men regret their actions.

Women fearful of being raped can insert the Rape-Axe condom inside themselves like a diaphragm or tampon. If her worst fears come true, and a man attempts to rape her, the Rape-Axe's inside hooks attach themselves to the penis and don't come off, instead getting even tighter and stopping the man from being able to urinate. The only way to remove it is by seeing a doctor—which will obviously help with prosecution.

After the World Cup, Ehlers will be selling the Rape-Axe condoms for $2 each.

http://gizmodo.com/5568425/the-stained-earth-courtesy-of-bp

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http://gizmodo.com/5568162/researchers-develop-incredibly-efficient-air-conditioning-tech

My current apartment lacks air conditioning of any kind. Good for the environment and the utility bill, but bad for me and my restless sleep. News today of some crazy 90% more efficient AC has made me feel worse.

This miraculous AC does what it does courtesy "DEVap." For the layman, and me, this means it uses liquid desiccants and "evaporative coolants" to effectively cool previously hard-to-cool dry heat. And instead of nasty CFC refrigerants, the DEVap uses a salt solution. Less global warming that way— a good thing!

Of course there's the usual caveat: This is lab-only for now until researchers decipher a way to mass market it to sweaty schleps like me. Then again, since you're a well-read individual used to fantastic discoveries being described as "available in the future," you already knew this. [NREL via Engadget]

Its a real shame its not doing well in the Box office. I'd really like a sequel. I know a lot of people can't get over the fact Mr. T isn't in it. Rampage Jackson does a pretty decent job of acting, despite no prior experience.

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